The Whitewater Chronicles: A Step Away from Darkness Inside
by mephiles97
Summary: Years ago, a certain "accident" happened in Threshold Forest, which lies right outside the town of Whitewater. Everyone tried to forget the accident, but it's come back to haunt one teen in the village. He can't fight the dreams that plague him, and he doesn't know what they are. He almost feels like he's not the same person in the night... Almost as if he becomes a monster.
1. A Usual Day

**The Whitewater Chronicles: A Step Away from Darkness Inside**

**Chapter 1: A Usual Day**

**In another world… Pokémon has become something more, something much more. Pokémon are no longer what they used to be. In this world, normal Pokémon no longer exist. The Pokémon that roam here are something else… Something not Pokémon, and hanging on the verge of being something almost human. A cross between human and Pokémon; a new creature never seen before. They appear exactly human like, but yet they have the eyes, tails, and ears of a normal Pokémon. They hold the powers of a Pokémon, but do not take orders from trainers or live inside Pokéballs. They use their powers whenever they please, yet they live and grow like human beings. They live rather human like lives, but they also enjoy simple things that Pokémon might enjoy.**

**This is the town of Whitewater, home to many different kinds of Poké-Humans**

A fairly tall teenage Pikachu girl appearing to be about the age of sixteen walked down the giant dirt paths of Whitewater Village, appearing to be looking for someone. She had slightly tan, almost yellow or honey colored skin. She had very bright, long yellow hair, which hung down past her shoulders. Her hair was very neat, as if she spent a lot of time keeping it nice and straight. She had slightly short, straight Pikachu ears sticking out of the top of her very nice blonde hair, and she did not have any human ears. She had very rosy red cheeks, representing the red electric pouches that are on a normal Pikachu's face. She also had a very large Pikachu tail, which had a small piece missing out of the very end of it. She had normal hands and feet just like a human, and a normal human girl body shape. She wore a baggy, dark purple t-shirt and baggy blue jeans. She also wore plain white sneakers. She had very dark brown eyes, which almost appeared to be black.

"Mark! Can you hear me? Where are you?" The girl cupped her hands around her mouth and called out in normal human English, turning her head from side to side. She waited for a few moments, and didn't hear a response called back to her. She released a somewhat angry sigh, continuing to walk down the dirt path. She rubbed her eyes slightly, attempting to wipe out some of the dirt and dust that had been blown in her eyes by the wind that was blowing up and down the roads. "Mark!"

"Busy looking for Mark, are we, Electra? Did that rambunctious boy decide to run off again?" A voice asked from in front of a small house on the side of the road.

"Yeah, he did… He's been gone for a few hours. I need to find him because we're supposed to go meet Ashten at the Pokémon Center…" Electra replied as if she knew the voice, turning her head to look at where the voice came from.

The voice was revealed to belong to a fairly tall, adult Mismagius with very pale, silky white skin. She appeared to be in her twenties, and she seemed to be about average size for her age. She had very long purple-bluish hair that hung about halfway down her back; it seemed very neat and straight. She wore a very long purple dress, which was long enough to go down to her feet. At the bottom of the dress, it had small lavender purple designs on the bottom of it. She wore black shoes, and she had a necklace with red gems around her neck. The whites of her eyes were a pale yellow color, and her normal eye color was a very pretty red-orange color. "That child needs to rest sometimes… I worry about Mark sometimes. He seems like he doesn't give much caution to his stamina or his safety."

"Don't worry, I worry about him too, Duskina. I just want to find him… I wouldn't imagine that he's hurt at all, but I think he's either lost track of time or gotten himself busy with something. I want to tell him that we need to get home soon so we can go meet Ashten, but I believe that I already told you about the part with Ashten."

"Yes, you did, but don't worry. I don't mind hearing it again," Duskina replied. "Anyway, I hope you find him soon, dear. I honestly haven't seen him myself, so I apologize that I can't be of more help."

"Oh, it's fine, Duskina. You don't have to worry about it," Electra replied, turning her head back towards the road. "Well, I hate to cut this short, but I really need to go find Mark before we're late."

"It's fine, dear. Have a good day, Electra," Duskina said, giving a small wave towards the female Pikachu human as she began further down the path.

"I will! Thank you, Duskina!" Electra called, turning around just for a second to give a wave towards Duskina. "You have a good day, too!"

"Thank you, dear!"

Electra continued walking down the dirt path on her search for the boy named Mark. She squint her eyes slightly, seeing that she was coming towards large, grassy field that was covered in flowers. "…And now I'm in Flower Fields. Where in the world is Mark…?" She turned off of the dirt road and started walking into the field, still in search of Mark. She looked at a very large, humongous tree towards the middle of the field, observing each one of the lower branches of the tree. Her long, thin Pikachu ears stood on end when she noticed yellow sparks coming from the top of one of the slightly higher branches; electricity sparks.

"Mark? Is that you?" Electra called out, moving closer to the very large tree. She craned her neck backwards, looking up at the branch that she saw the sparks coming from. "Mark?"

"Hey, sis! What's up?" A teenage male's voice called from the branch.

"Mark, I've been looking everywhere for you! Do you have any idea what time it is?" Electra called, still looking up towards the branch. She crossed her arms just slightly.

A male figure stood up from the branch and then jumped off of the branch, letting himself fall to the ground. He landed roughly on the ground next to Electra, turning his head to look at her. "Hey, don't worry, Electra. I'm sure it's not that late. We weren't supposed to meet Ashten until 12:00 P.M." The figure was a teenage Pikachu boy, appearing to be the same age as Electra. The boy also had a similar appearance to Electra, as if he was her twin. He had rosy red cheeks just like Electra, which were sparking just slightly with small electric sparks. He had a large Pikachu tail just like Electra, except his tail didn't have a piece missing like hers did. He had crazy, wild yellow hair that appeared like it hadn't been brushed in months, which was slightly long in the back, going almost down to the middle of his neck. His hair in the front was wild and spikey, sticking up just slightly instead of hanging down on his forehead. His hair was long on both sides, handing down past the sides of his face. His hair was also streaking to a very light brown once it got to the very ends and tips of it. At the very top of his hair, his hair stuck out into very small bed-head like spikes. His eyes were a black-brown color, and they appeared to be slightly serious. His skin was also tanned like Electra's, though his looked like it was slightly lighter than Electra's, almost appearing to be white skin. His ears looked just like Electra's, except his were longer and the black-tipped hair on them stuck out in small, messy spikes. He wore a very tight, dark grey muscle shirt, which had no sleeves on it and showed off his slightly muscular chest and his muscular arms. The shirt also had two white vertical white line designs on both sides of it. He also wore very baggy black shorts, which had legs that were long enough to reach his knees and go down just slightly past them. His shorts also appeared like they could fall down any moment because they were so baggy if it wasn't for him wearing a black belt. He wore plain black sandals on his feet. He also had thick white gauze wrapped around both of his arms; the gauze started at his elbows and continued down to his wrists. He also had a black band around his right upper arm, right near his shoulder. He also had a scar in the shape of three claw marks going across his right eye, although it didn't seem to affect his vision in any way. He also had what appeared to be two scars caused by fang bites on the right side of his neck.

"I got two answers for you, Mark. One, we ARE supposed to meet Ashten at 12. So, you got that answer correct. Two, you got that second question wrong. It IS that late! It's already 11:45 P.M!" Electra responded.

"It's WHAT?!" Mark asked, shock quickly growing in his eyes. Upon further observing, one could see that his eyes were actually two different colors. His left eye was a normal brown like Electra's eyes, but his right eye was a solid black color, almost like a void. "How in the world did I pass that much time?!"

"I have no idea! What in the world where you even doing?!" Electra asked, quickly beginning to run back towards the dirt path with her brother Mark right beside her.

"I was playing with my Thundershock! I got bored, ok?!" Mark said, gritting his teeth together as he slowly began speeding up in his running. His rosy red cheeks slowly stopped sparking.

"Why your Thundershock?!"

"I don't know! I guess it's because it's the attack that I use the least… I feel as if it's not as powerful as my other attacks!" Mark replied, still speeding up. His sandaled feet slammed onto the dirt road as he kept running, kicking up large amounts of dust behind him.

"Why didn't you just come home instead of playing with your powers for two hours?! You left two hours ago and never came back!" Electra said, speeding up to keep up with Mark.

"I had only been playing with my Thundershock for a short time before you showed up! I swear, Electra! I didn't know it was this late already!"

"How did you spend two hours, then?!"

"I went for a walk in the Threshold Forest! I walked for a while, and then I climbed up into that tree to relax. Once I got bored, I started playing with my Thundershock!" He lifted up his head slightly, seeing that they were about to be off of the dirt paths and onto the normal streets and sidewalks. "I honestly didn't know how late it was! I'm so sorry, Electra…"

"You went into the Threshold Forest?! I thought you were afraid of that place! Ever since… the accident…" Electra said, turning her head just slightly to look at Mark while they kept running.

Mark immediately became quiet, swallowing hard and biting his lip fairly tightly. His long straight ears slowly laid back slightly as memories began to start swimming through his mind. "…I… I… I guess I just decided to go there… I didn't even think about… the… t-the…" He bit his lip again, closing his eyes just slightly. He couldn't bring himself to speak any more about subject that Electra had just brought up.

Electra, quickly realizing that she had just said something that she shouldn't have, quickly bit her lip, feeling extremely bad for what she had just said. "…Mark… I'm so sorry that I brought that up… I know it's a sore subject…"

Mark just remained quiet, feeling like he couldn't bring himself to speak. He simply just nodded to tell Electra that he wasn't angry at her and that it was ok that she said what she said. He raised his head up, seeing that he and his sister were quickly approaching the large, sky-scraper like Pokémon Center. "…We're here, sis…" He said, finally managing to get himself to speak.

Electra quickly skidded her run to a stop along with Mark, fearing that they'd run right into the building if they didn't stop. They both calmly and slowly looked around for Ashten, the one that they came to meet.

"Hey, Mark! Electra! I was wondering when you would get here! It's 12:10 P.M," A teenage boy's voice called. The voice belonged to a slightly short for his age Chimchar boy appearing to be around the age of sixteen. He had very dark orange-red hair that stood straight up in the air, styled into what resembled a flame. His hair had one very long strand of hair on each side of his head, which hung down right beside his long, Chimchar like ears. The hair strands where large, and they hung down past the sides of his head. His bangs were very short, just barely covering his forehead with small fringe. His hair was also very short in the back, almost as if the very bottom fringe had been shaved to his neck. His skin appeared to be a fair color; a normal white skin color. Not too pale, but not too tan either. He wore a sleeveless red and yellow jacket, which had a very high jacket collar; the collar covered his neck completely from sight and hid just tip of his chin because it was so tall. The jacket was fairly tight, showing that his body was fairly slim and just slightly scrawny. He wore light blue jeans, which didn't appear to be too big, too baggy, or too tight; they seemed to be fair in size. He didn't appear to be wearing a belt, but his pants seemed like the waist was tight enough to keep them from falling down without a belt. He wore fairly worn steel-toed boots, which were a very dark brown in color. He also wore black, open-fingered gloves. He also had a fairly large flame sticking out of the back of his pants; which was his Chimchar tail. Ashten also had a very dark brown path of skin on his left cheek, which resembled some type of burn scar.

"We're so sorry, Ashten," Electra said, turning to face the Chimchar boy. "Mark went off to explore and lost track of time, and when I finally found him, it was really, really late." She released a heavy sigh, wiping her hand across her now very hot and sweaty forehead due to all of the running.

"It's fine… Are you ok? Do you need some water?" Ashten asked, noticing that Electra and even Mark seemed to be very out of breath, hot, and all sweaty.

"It… would be very nice, Ashten…" Electra replied, nodding her head slightly as she took a deep breath. She looked over at Mark, who nodded his head as well while bending over to place his hands on his knees. "I believe that Mark would like some water, too, Ashten… If it's not too much trouble…"

"Oh, it's no trouble at all, Electra. Give me just a sec! I'll ask the nurse for a few bottles of water," Ashten said, a smile on his face. He turned away from Electra and Mark and jogged over to the front counter.

Electra and Mark turned away and slowly walked over to the large, living room like area of the Pokémon Center, which consisted of tons of soft recliners and couches with a flat screen TV, air conditioners, and very large, very tall windows that allowed you to see outside for quite a far ways. The room was located on the right side of the Pokémon Center as soon as one walked into the door. Electra and Mark both plopped themselves down on the closest recliner chairs that they could find near the air conditioner.

Ashten walked up to the front counter, laying his hands on the very well-polished dark red wooden counter. "Excuse me, ma'am?" He asked, looking at the clerk that stood behind the counter with her back turned.

"Yes?" The clerk asked in a very kind, gentle voice. She turned to face Ashten and walked towards the counter, a smile on her face. "Do you need something, young man?"

"Two bottle of water, please?" Ashten asked in a calm voice, also putting a smile on his face.

"Of course," The clerk replied with a smile. She walked to the right slightly behind the counter, stopping in front of a large refrigerator. She opened the fridge and reached her hand inside, and pulled out two very cold bottles of water. She walked back over to Ashten, giving both of the bottles to him. "Here you go, young man."

Ashten held the bottles in both of his hands, giving a warm smile towards the clerk. "Thank you very much, ma'am."

"You're very welcome," The clerk said with a smile. "Do you need anything else?"

"No, ma'am. I just needed a few bottles of water," Ashten replied.

"Alright. Have a nice day, child," The clerk said, turning away from Ashten to continue with what she was doing before he walked up.

"I will! Once again, thank you!" Ashten called, already beginning to the living room area. He walked over to Astra and Mark, giving one bottle to each of them. "Here's your water."

"Thank you very much, Ashten…" Astra thanked Ashten, and then gently unscrewed the cap off of the water bottle. She raised the bottle up to her lips and took a quick sip of the water inside, feeling quite a bit of relief. She was hot and thirsty, so the cold water felt really nice as it slid down her throat. "Ah… That feels a lot better…" She said, screwing the cap back onto the water. "Thank you, Ashten."

"You're welcome, Electra. I'm glad I could help," The Chimchar boy replied. He plopped himself down on very soft recliner across from Electra and Mark. "Is that water helping you in any way, Mark?" The Pikachu boy didn't respond to Ashten's question. Ashten turned his head towards Mark, to see that the boy had his head tilted back, chugging down his own water bottle without showing any signs of stopping. "…I take that as a yes," Ashten said, releasing a laugh.

"I swear that Mark could probably chug down a two-liter without even stopping to take one breath…" Electra said, releasing her own laugh. She turned towards Ashten. "So, what's our plan? Weren't we going to meet here and decide where to go today for something to entertain ourselves?"

"Well, I don't really know. I guess it's whatever you two feel like doing. We could go to the movies, go hiking, go exploring in the woods, go swimming at the lake, whatever you feel like doing," Ashten replied.

"Hm… What sounds good to you, Mark?" Electra turned to face her brother, who was STILL chugging his water down. "Don't swallow the whole bottle," She teased, wearing a goofy smirk on her face.

Mark continued chugging the water for a bit, then lowered his head, pulling the bottle away from his mouth. He took a deep breath, and laughed a bit at what Electra had just said. "Don't worry, I didn't swallow the whole thing," He replied, screwing the cap back onto his now half-empty bottle of water. "Now, as far as what sounds good to me… What about swimming in the lake? It's a beautiful day, and it's also fairly warm outside, so maybe a cold swim in the lake would be nice for all of us."

"What do you think, Electra? That actually sounds kind of nice to me," Ashten said, turning his head to look at the Pikachu girl.

"It sounds fine to me. Is that what we're going to do? Go for a swim in the lake?" Electra asked.

"Yeah, that sounds like what we're going to do," Ashten replied.

"Alright! Sounds like it's going to be fun!" Mark said with a lot of enthusiasm in his voice. He quickly jumped up out of the chair he was in, excited and now full of energy.

"First I think all of us need to go home for a short time, though," Electra said.

"Why?" Both of the now enthusiastic boys asked, turning their heads to look at Electra.

"Did any of us actually bring our swimsuits with us?"

"…No, we didn't." The three friends stood still for a moment, before bursting out into laughter. They all turned towards the entrance of the Pokémon Center and began walking towards the door.

"Alright, so we'll meet back up at the lake?" Ashten asked as he walked out of the Pokémon Center with Mark and Electra.

"Yes, I believe that's what we're going to do," Electra replied.

"Alright, I'll see both of you there, then," Ashten said. With that said, Ashten turned off onto one bath, and Electra and Mark turned off onto another; everyone was on their way to their own houses to grab their swimsuits.

**(Author's Note: The Pokémon Centers in this story are hospitals/hotels. Another note: These Poke-Humans are not affected by super effective and non-effective things like in normal Pokémon, so, for instance… A normally Fire-type Poke-Human can go for a swim in a lake without feeling anything whatsoever. Poke-Humans in this story do not have types)**


	2. A Day at the Lake

**The Whitewater Chronicles: A Step Away from Darkness Inside**

**Chapter 2: A Day at the Lake**

Electra stood inside her medium-sized closet in her own bedroom, looking though all of her very organized clothes for her swimsuit. "_Let's see…_" She kneeled down onto her hands and knees, beginning to dig through the small pile of clothes that was on the floor in her closet. Before she dug around too much, she pulled out her light blue one piece swimsuit. "Ah, there it is!" She stood up, holding the swimsuit firmly in her hand so she wouldn't drop it as she got up. She looked down at the floor again, appearing to think of something. "…_I should probably take some more clothes…_" She leaned down towards the ground and picked through the clothes once more before picking up a pair of swim trunk like shorts, and a well-worn white t-shirt that seemed to be quite a few years old. "_Alright, that's better_." She walked out of her closet and gently shut the door behind her with the clothes and swimsuit in hand. She walked out of her bedroom, which lead into the living room of her house. She walked across the living room and then across the kitchen, stopping at a doorway into another bedroom at the back of the kitchen. "Hey, Mark? Have you found your swim trunks yet?" She called into the bedroom.

"It's alright for you to come in if you want, Electra. I don't mind," Mark's voice called from inside the bedroom. "And, no, I haven't just let. I'm looking through my last drawer right now."

"Do you need any help with that, Mark? Maybe two of us looking through the drawer would help find your swim trunks just a bit quicker?" Electra said while walking into Mark's bedroom, which was much cluttered with lots of clothes on the floor. She walked over to Mark, who was busy digging through his large brown dresser in search of his swim trunks. She moved over slightly and started digging in the dresser with Mark, making sure that she was far enough away that she wouldn't keep bumping shoulders or elbows with him.

"Wait, I found them!" Mark said with a happy tone, pulling out a slightly thin pair of black swim trunks. They looked like they might appear to be just slightly tight if he was to put them on.

"Alright, that's good," Electra said while stopping her search and turning her head to look at her brother. "Do you need anything else before we leave? Any extra clothes? I personally grabbed a t-shirt and some swim trunks along with my swimsuit," She said, holding up her small handful of clothes.

"Nah, I don't think I'll take anything else. I'll take just my trunks. I'm not worried about getting sunburn from not wearing a shirt," Mark said, closing his drawer. "So, do we have everything that we need? Is there anything else that you want to take to the lake with us?"

"Hm… You talking about getting sunburn makes me think that we should take some sunblock…"

"Are you WORRIED about getting sunburn, Electra?" Mark asked as they both walked out of his bedroom together.

"Well, no, not really. I usually tan, anyway."

"So do I. That's why I didn't think I needed to bring a shirt," Mark said. "Not that I'm saying it's bad that you're taking a shirt," He added.

"I know what you meant. I know that you didn't mean that in a bad way," Electra assured her brother. "I guess we don't really need to take anything then. Wait, what about towels to dry off with?"

"Oh, right! I forgot about towels!" Mark said, turning back towards his bedroom. "Hang on! I'll grab a few out of my bathroom," He said while walked back into his bedroom.

"Alright, I'll wait for you in the living room!" Electra said, walking across the kitchen and into the living room. She sat down in one of the recliner chairs in the room, patiently waiting for Mark to gather up the towels.

Mark walked through his bedroom and walked into the small bathroom that was on the right side of his room. He walked to the right once in the bathroom, stopping himself in front of a tall but thin cabinet. He squatted down in front of the cabinet and opened the bottom of it, looking at a pile of neatly folded towels that was inside. He reached inside and grabbed two of the towels, and then stood up and closed the cabinet with his foot. He walked out of the bathroom and out of his bedroom, walking back towards the living room. "Ok, I grabbed a couple of towels! I only grabbed two because I figure that Ashten will probably bring a towel from himself from his own home."

"Yeah, he probably will bring his own towel. I think two will be just fine," Electra said, standing up from the couch. "Ready to go, Mark? Do we have everything?"

"Yeah, I believe that we do. I think we'll be perfectly fine with everything that we already gathered up."

"I agree with that. So, let's get going!" Electra walked towards and out of the front door with Mark, watching as he closed the door behind them. They walked away from their house and out onto the sidewalk, walking north towards a large bunch of mountains in the distance.

Mark and Electra arrived at Rockwater Lake not long afterward. The lake was very large and looked very clean. The lake was surrounded by lots of trees, small cliffs, and hills, giving it a very nature feel. It was also surrounded by lots of flowers and luscious green grass, making it look like the perfect place to come to get out of city life for a while and into nature. Electra and Mark both looked around the large lake, looking for their slightly short Chimchar friend. They didn't see him, so they assumed that he had not arrived at the lake yet.

"I don't think Ashten is here yet," Mark said, observing the environment in a quick search for their fiery friend.

"No, I don't think he is, either," Electra agreed with Mark, also looking around a bit. "What do you want to do, Mark? Wait on Ashten or go ahead and get in the water?"

"Well, what do you want to do? I don't think that Ashten would care if we went ahead and got in the water," Mark said, turning to face his sister. He pointed to a large bathroom house a short ways away from their current location. "I know that there's a changing room in there if you at least want to go ahead and change into your swimsuit, Electra."

"Hm… Yeah, I think I'll at least go change. That way we can get right in the water if we want or get right in the water as soon as Ashten arrives," Electra said.

"It's fine with me if you want to go change. I might go in and change after you come back out," Mark said. He walked over to a small boulder and climbed up on top of it. He then sat down on the top of the boulder, putting a smile on his face as he looked around at the beautiful day around him. "Man… It's so nice today! Weather is absolutely great today."

"I agree with you, Mark; it's a very nice day today," Electra said, turning away from her brother. She proceeded to walk towards the bathroom and into the changing room.

Mark stayed where he was on the rock, releasing a quiet sigh with a smile. He looked around the environment a bit more, until the sound of footsteps came to his ears. His large Pikachu ears twitched at the sound as he turned his head towards it. The smile on his face grew in size once he saw that the footsteps belonged to Ashten. "Hey, Ashten! Looks like we beat you here," The Pikachu boy joked with a smile.

"Ha ha, yeah, I'm pretty sure you did," Ashten said, releasing a laugh. He quickly made his way over to Mark. "Where's Electra at?" He asked while looking around in search for Mark's twin sister.

"She went to the changing room. She should be back in a little bit," Mark replied. He lowered his eyes slightly and looked down at Mark, who was already wearing his swim trunks, a dark red t-shirt, and brown sandals. "I'm guessing you changed into your swim clothes before you even left your house?"

"Yeah, I went ahead and just changed into my swimming outfit. Although…" Ashten held up a small blue bag. "My regular clothes are in this. I also brought a towel."

"Alright. That's fine." Mark turned his head towards the bathroom, and saw Electra walk out soon afterward. She wore her swim trunks and her t-shirt that she had brought, although she wore her one piece swimsuit underneath the other clothes. "Hey, Electra! Ashten is here!" Mark called.

"I see that. Hi, Ashten!" Electra called as she began making her way over to Mark and Ashten.

"Hi, Electra. I'm sorry that I kept you and Mark waiting. I got here as soon as I could. My house isn't as close to here as yours is," Ashten said, apologizing for not arriving when they did.

"Oh, it's fine, Ashten. You didn't keep us waiting at all really, actually. We pretty much just got here ourselves," Electra replied. She turned her head to look at Mark. "Why don't you go change now?"

"Alright." Mark moved his body forward, and then let himself slide down off of the boulder he was still sitting on. He landed flat on his feet, bending his knees just slightly as he landed. He stood back up and walked towards the bathroom to go use the changing room to change into his swim trunks.

"So… How have you been, Electra?" Ashten asked, attempting to pass the time while Mark changed into her swim clothes.

"I've been fine, Ashten. Nothing very special has happened lately… Although I've actually been having a few problems sleeping," Electra replied.

"You have? Is there any reason why?"

"I guess I can say yes and no to that question in a way," Electra replied. "It seems like almost every other night, there's always something that wakes me up, although I probably could just go back to sleep even though I don't…"

"What do you mean, Electra…? What wakes you up at night…?"

"I don't honestly know what it is, Ashten. It's almost like… like howls. Howls and growls…" Electra said quietly. "At first, they sound very close like they're right outside Mark and mine's house, and even like they're in the house at some times… And then they get fainter and fainter until they sound like they're coming from the Threshold Forest…"

"…Electra, I actually think I know what you're talking about," Ashten said quietly. "I think I've heard those noises coming from the forest as well during the nights… Although I don't think they've ever woken me up… Usually I hear them before I go to bed. I've also heard the noises as if they were right outside my house…"

"Really? You've heard the same howls as well?"

"Yes, I believe that I have. Has Mark ever heard them himself?"

"I honestly don't know… I don't think I've ever asked him before," Electra replied. "He usually goes to bed before the howls usually start, so I guess if he never gets woken up by them, he's never heard them before. The noises didn't start until recently, though… About a month or two ago."

"I agree… I do believe it was about a month ago when they first started. …Mark always goes to sleep before they start?"

"Yeah, most of the time," Electra said. "Sometimes he just goes in his room at those times at night… Although I don't usually hear the howls on those nights, or at least I don't hear them until a lot later into the night… I can't say that I know why, though." She thought for a moment before speaking again. "Hm… Do your parents ever hear the howling, Ashten?"

"I honestly don't know, Electra. If they do hear it, they don't say anything about it. Maybe they don't care that much or maybe they know what it is… Or maybe they just don't hear it at all. I honestly don't know," Ashten replied.

"Huh… Well, I guess there's really no way to know unless we actually ask your parents," Electra said. "Not that we really need to ask them. Not like it's going to make a big difference."

"True, I don't suppose it would make much of a difference." Ashten turned his head and looked around, looking over at the bathroom and changing area. "How long can it possibly take Mark to change into simple swim trunks?"

"I'm sure he'll be back out soon. Maybe he had to use the bathroom while he was in there."

"True, I didn't think about that. That could be why he's taking so long," Ashten said. He looked back towards the bathroom, and saw a shirtless, swim trunk-wearing Mark quickly walk out of the changing room and towards where he and Electra stood.

"I'm so sorry! I had to use the bathroom before I changed!" Mark said as he stopped himself beside Electra and Ashten. He wasn't wearing his shirt, which revealed his fairly muscular arms and chest. He had what looked like a tattoo of a giant purple flame on his chest and stomach. His chest was also revealed to have claw mark-like scars all over it. He also had a tattoo of two brown stripes on his lower back, which looked just like the brown stripes that were on a normal Pikachu's back. He wore black swim trunks that were just slightly tight, and he wore the same black sandals that he had been wearing before he changed. He held his normal pants and his shirt in his hands.

"It's fine, Mark. We figured that you had used the bathroom or something since you were taking so long," Electra replied. She turned her head to look back and forth at Ashten and Mark. "So, are we ready to get into the water?"

"I know that I'm ready to get in!" Mark said as he jogged over towards the lake. "Are you two coming with me?"

"I suppose I'm ready to get in the water, too. I'm getting hot just standing in this sun," Ashten said.

"Alright, then let's go!" Mark said with excitement in his voice. He quickly turned his jog into a run as he neared the lake, and ran up a small hill that leaned out over the lake in the form of a small ledge. He jumped off of the ledge, and fell a few feet from the ledge and into the water.

"Mark, are you ok?" Electra called, trying to make sure that Mark had not been hurt by the fall.

Mark stuck his head up out of the crystal clear water and put a smile on his face as he waved one of his hands towards his sister and Ashten. "Come on in! The water's great! It's nice and cool!"

Electra released a small laugh at her brother's excitement as she made her way towards the lake with Ashten. "We're coming, Mark. Although I would rather not cannonball jump in like you did."

"Aw, that's fine! I don't care," Mark said with a laugh, swimming towards Electra and Ashten.

Electra and Ashten slowly walked into the water, then they kept walking through the water until they got in deeper, then they began swimming to meet Mark towards the middle of the lake.

"Great to see you join the party," Mark said with a laugh. He slowly moved his lower body upward, until he was floating on his back. He put his hands on the water beside him and closed his eyes as he floated in place on his back on top of the water. "Ah…"

"Enjoying yourself, Mark?" Electra asked with a small laugh. She watched the zoned out look of Mark's face as his floating body bobbed up and down on the water slightly.

"Enjoying the lake is more like it…" Mark replied with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, I'm enjoying it, too," Ashten said, now floating on his back as well in the water. His fiery Chimchar tail cast out a very light red-orange glow underneath the water's surface.

"And so am I," Electra said as she moved herself to float on her own back. Now floating just like the boys, she stared up at the deep blue sky above them. "It really is a beautiful day, isn't it, boys?"

"It sure is," Both of the teenage boys replied. They both continued bobbing up and down slightly on top of the water's surface along with Electra.

"So, what's our plan after this? Or do we even have a plan?" Ashten asked, as he turned his head just slightly to look over at Electra.

"I don't suppose we do… I'm just enjoying this cold water right now. It's been awfully hot lately… The temperature has been high just about every day for the last week or so," Electra said. "I'm just enjoying this cold water."

"I agree with that. While I DO think wearing my muscle shirt and my shorts is probably cooler than wearing your jeans and t-shirt, Electra… I've been very hot myself lately. This is really nice just to hang out in the water together as friends," Mark said.

"I would almost say more than friends. We're almost like brothers, Mark. And Electra is like our sister," Mark said.

"Technically, Electra IS my sister… My twin sister."

"I know, I was just saying. We're almost like a family of three. I say that because we like to hang out so often and spend a lot of time playing together."

"True, I guess we are almost like a small family," Electra said, putting a smile on her face. "Oh, that reminds me… How's your love live coming along, Ashten?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ashten asked with a slight bit of surprise in his voice.

"I thought you had a girlfriend."

"N-No!" Ashten replied in a rather embarrassed sounding voice. "I don't have a girlfriend… I saw a girl that I kind of had a crush on, but I'm not dating anyone."

"Really now? You had a crush, Ashten?" Mark asked.

"Well, only for a little while…"

"Well, who was the lucky little lady?"

"Aw, you'd never believe me if I told you…"

"Come on, I wanna know who it is!" Mark teased, attempting to get Ashten to speak about his crush.

"I'm actually getting curious myself," Electra said with a smile and a small laugh. "Can you tell us, Ashten? Please?"

"Well, I don't think he needs to tell us if it's something really personal…" Mark said.

"True…"

"No, it's alright, you two. I don't mind talking about it," Ashten said.

"Then… Can you tell us?" Both of the Pikachu twins asked, turning their heads to face their fiery friend.

"I suppose I can tell you if you both really want me to…"

"We kind of already asked you if you could tell us before, Ashten," Electra pointed out.

"Alright. Well… I, at least, used to have a crush on Gardacia…" Ashten replied, looking up towards the deep blue sky. He was still floating on his back in the lake water, as were Electra and Mark.

'Whoa, whoa, back up! You had a crush on Gardacia? Wasn't she that really cute Sky Form Shaymin?" Mark asked, turning his head just slightly to look at Ashten in surprise while he was still floating on the water.

"Mark," Electra scolded slightly.

"What? I can't help it, Electra! I thought she was cute!" Mark said, putting a smile on his face. "I'm sure you agree with me, right, Ashten?"

"I do agree that I thought she was pretty…"Ashten said quietly, putting a small smile on his face.

"Yeah, I know, right? She was very pretty!"

Electra rolled her eyes slightly, laughing at Ashten and Mark's girl fantasy. "You teenage boys and your interest in girls."

"Oh, and you don't have an interest in… Let's see, how you would quote that… 'Hot teenage guys'?" Mark teased his sister.

"I don't have an interest in boys, Mark… You should know that. At least I don't have any interest in any of the boys that I've met so far in my life," Electra said.

"Are you so sure about that?" Mark teased.

"Yes, I'm sure about that," Electra replied with a laugh.

"You don't even have an interest in Ashten?" Mark asked, putting a devious smile on his face. Not that he had devious thoughts; he was just teasing his sister and his best friend.

Ashten and Electra both immediately blushed out of pure embarrassment as soon as Mark said what he just said. They both turned their heads to look at each other for just a moment, and then looked away out of embarrassment. "…No… I don't suppose I do have an interest in Ashten…" Electra said quietly to Mark.

"Are you sure? You're both blushing," Mark continued to tease with a small laugh.

"It's nothing, Mark… Just embarrassment…" Ashten said quietly, still wearing a blush on his face.

"Ashten's right, Mark. It's just embarrassment," Electra said quietly, still wearing a blush on her own face.

"Yeah, keep telling both of yourselves that," Mark said with another laugh. He was still floating on top of the water.

Electra turned her head a bit, turning her head towards Ashten. She didn't speak, but she gave Ashten a look that said 'let's get him'.

Ashten nodded his head at Electra, indicating that he knew what she was talking about. He moved his feet down into the water, which caused him to stop floating on his back. He swam in place, watching at Electra also stopped floating on her back. They both looked over at Mark, who was still floating on his back and not paying attention to either of the two. They both swam over to Mark, attempting to be as quiet as possible so he wouldn't know that they were moving closer.

"So, what do you guys want to do after we're done here?" Mark asked. He had his eyes closed, so he obviously had not noticed that Ashten and Electra were now swimming right next to him.

Electra and Ashten didn't respond to Mark. Electra simply looked at Ashten and nodded her head towards him as if to tell him something. Electra pinched Mark's nose shut quickly, and with Ashten's help, quickly dunked Mark underwater with a laugh before he even had time to react.

Mark quickly flailed his arms and legs around, taken by complete surprise as he was shoved underwater. He quickly swam back up to the surface, taking in a deep breath as Electra let go of his nose. "Hey! What was that all about?!" Mark asked in a loud voice, but not because he was angry. He was loud because he was laughing and trying to talk at the same time.

"You were teasing us, so we got you back by dunking you underwater," Electra said with a laugh. She looked over at Ashten, who was also laughing.

"Ha, that wasn't a bad idea at all," Mark said while still laughing as well. He slowly stopped laughing, and then he began getting a look on his face while an idea began forming in his head. "Heh heh…"

"What are you thinking, Mark?" Electra asked with a laugh, noticing the look in Mark's eyes. She knew that look always meant that he had some kind of trick up his sleeve.

Mark didn't reply to Electra. He simply just pinched his nose shut and dove underwater, quickly swimming towards Electra and Ashten. Realizing what Mark was about to do, Electra and Ashten quickly turned and tried to swim away, but it was too late. Electra and Ashten both held their breath and closed their eyes tightly as they felt themselves being grabbed and dragged underwater by Mark.

Mark pulled them underwater with him, keeping his eyes open while he was still underwater. He stared at Electra and Ashten, putting a grin on his face while he held his breath to keep from breathing in the lake water. Electra and Ashten, who also had their eyes open, gave Mark a playful shove while still underwater. To keep from breathing in water, all three friends swam back up to the surface and took a deep breath before bursting out into laughter.

"Ha ha! I pulled a sneak attack on you!" Mark said, attempting to get back in control of his laughter.

"That was cheap! Suddenly pulling us under like that!" Ashten said, also laughing. He took in a deep breath, and began laughing even more.

Electra didn't add anything to Ashten and Mark's conversation. She just kept laughing along with the two boys.

"You know it was funny, though!" Mark said, still continuing to laugh.

"Yes, I agree that it was really funny," Ashten said, wiping a few tears out of his eyes as he continued to laugh. "I don't know if I can stop laughing."

"I don't know if I can either," Electra said, still laughing to herself. She swam back towards the edge of the lake, needing to get out of the water for a bit to calm down. She was quickly followed by Ashten and Mark.

"Now, that… That was just funny," Ashten said while he climbed up onto the cliff that stood above the lake with Mark and Electra. "That was worth a good laugh."

"I know! That was just funny," Electra said, still laughing a bit. "Do we plan on getting back in the water?"

"I don't even know," Mark said with a laugh.

The three friends continued laughing, swimming, and talking for quite some time together. In fact, they got so wrapped up into spending time together that they actually stayed at the lake until sundown. However, Mark was really the first one to notice how late it had gotten.

"Hey, Electra? Ashten? I just realized how late it was," Mark said, looking up towards the orange and yellow sky. "It's sundown!"

"Wait, what? How in the world did we manage to lose track of time like that?" Electra laughed just a bit to herself before going back to the edge of the lake with the boys. "We should probably be heading home by now. I'm surprised that your parents haven't been trying to call you, Ashten."

"They might have… I honestly don't know," Ashten said with just a slight bit of worry in his voice.

"No, I don't think they have, Ashten. I can see your phone, and I don't see any missed calls on it," Mark said. He was standing up on the shore of the lake, which was where everyone had put their clothes. Of course, the clothes weren't nearly close enough to get wet from the lake. Mark was looking right at Ashten's dark red phone, which was sitting on top of Ashten's small stack of clothes. The phone indeed didn't show any missed calls or new text messages.

Ashten climbed out of the water along with Electra and walked over to Mark. He looked down at his phone. "Yeah, I guess I didn't get any messages. Maybe my parents haven't really noticed that I've been gone for so long… Or maybe they're not really worried. I mean, I know that they care about me, but maybe they're not worried that I'm not home yet."

"True, maybe they're not. Anyway, it probably would be a good idea to start heading home soon," Electra said as she walked over to her own small stack of clothes. He looked up at the sky, noticing that the sun was beginning to go down more and more. "Yeah, it's getting dark."

"Should we change clothes before we go home, Electra? That way we don't drip water all over the house?" Mark asked, turning his head to look at Electra as he bent down and picked up his own pile of clothes.

"I suppose it's whatever you want to do, Mark. I don't think I'll change… I think I'm going to wait until I get home. But, you can do whatever you would like to do," Electra replied. "Do you want to change before we leave, Mark?"

"Yeah, I think I will if that's alright with you, Electra. I always feel cold if I'm in wet clothes for too long," Mark said. "So I suppose it basically comes down to the fact that I don't like being cold."

"It's fine with me if you want to go ahead and change. I don't mind waiting for you," Electra said. Mark nodded his head and jogged off towards the changing room.

"Well, I suppose it's just us again, Electra… I really should be going home now, though. Before my parents DUE start to get worried," Ashten said while gathering up his clothes and phone. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, I suppose."

"Oh, that's right… I forgot tomorrow was Monday," Electra said. "Oh well. Be careful on your way home, Ashten… It's getting dark quite quickly."

"I'll be careful, Electra. You don't have to worry," Ashten said, turning away from Electra to walk back to the path towards his house. "Tell Mark that I'll see him at school tomorrow, please. Bye." He began walking away, quickly disappearing into the darkness as he walked further away on route to his house.

"Bye, Ashten!" Electra called after the red-haired Chimchar boy, not knowing if he heard what she had said or not. She stood where she was, calmly waiting for Mark to come back from the changing room.

Inside the changing room, Mark had changed back into his normal clothes except for putting his muscle shirt back on. He stood in front of the mirror, looking at himself in the mirror. "…I think I burned just a bit…" He said to himself, leaning closer to the mirror to see himself better. He had in fact sunburned just slightly on his cheeks and forehead. He shrugged his shoulders a bit and turned away from the mirror, when a pain suddenly came up in his stomach. He clutched his stomach and leaned over the bathroom sink, taking a quick, sharp breath. "_It's getting late… Why did I forget about this…_?" Mark thought to himself, still leaning over the sink as more pain came up through his stomach and chest. He clenched his teeth together tightly, taking another sharp breath. He slowly put his shirt back on, and then walked towards the exit of the changing room, holding his wet clothes in his hands. He kept his teeth clenched together and tried his best to ignore the pain as he slowly made his way back out to Electra.

"Mark, are you ok? Is something wrong?" Electra asked in concern, noticing the slightly pained look on Mark's face as he walked up to her.

"No, nothing's wrong… I just accidently hit my head on the sink in the bathroom," Mark lied, not wanting to tell his sister what was really hurting him. "I dropped my wet clothes by accident, and when I bent down and went to stand back up, I didn't realize that I was too close to the sink and I hit my head." Mark rubbed his head slightly. "Can we… go home now…? Before it gets really dark…?" He said while looking up towards the sky as if he was nervous for some reason.

Electra, not noticing that Mark was lying or that he seemed nervous, nodded her head and started walking down the path back towards their house, closely followed by Mark. "Did you have fun, Mark? I know I did!"

"Yeah, Electra… I had a lot of fun," Mark said, feeling the pain in his stomach and chest slowly becoming stronger. He released another slightly heavy breath, trying to be quiet so Electra would not hear him. "Electra, do you think I can just jog home by myself? I'm getting really cold…" Mark said, lying yet again.

"But, wouldn't jogging just make more air hit you and make you colder?" Electra questioned. "No, wait… Jogging would make your body hot because of the exercise… Maybe that would help you warm up."

"So, is it ok if I go jog home?"

"Eh, I'll jog with you!" Electra said with a smile on her face, quickly beginning her jog down the path. She looked behind her just slightly to see Mark jogging closely behind her. "…How about we make this a race, Mark? Feel like running?" She asked with a grin.

Mark's ears stood up at what Electra just said. He still felt growing pain in his stomach and chest, and he DID want to get home as soon as possible. "Sure, I would love to race!" He said, accepting his sister's offer to race as soon as she offered it. He immediately began running, quickly followed by his sister.

Electra laughed, quickly speeding up to run next to Mark. "I never have been able to beat you in a race, but that doesn't mean I won't stop trying!"

Mark laughed just a bit, attempting to speed up in his running. He bite his lip just slightly as if worried once he felt the pain growing a bit more. He tried to dismiss this feeling as he continued towards his house with his sister; he wouldn't dare tell his sister what he was feeling, although he clearly knew what it meant.

Late that night, after Electra and Mark had arrived home and gone to bed, Electra jerked up in her bed, quickly awakening from her deep sleep as a sense of dread washed over her; she was pretty sure she knew what was about to happen. She covered her ears quickly as an ear-splitting howl ripped through the night sky outside and through her bedroom. "The howls… They started again…" She whispered quietly, feeling a slight fear rise up and down her body. "…I wonder if Mark is awake and hearing them…" She debated for a long time on wither or not she should go see if Mark awake, but she was afraid to do that. She was afraid that if he wasn't awake, she would wake him up as soon she walked into his room. She sat in her bed for quite some time, shuddering slightly each time one of the howls pierced through her room.

Deciding to see if she could figure out where they were coming from, Electra slowly forced herself to climb out of bed and onto her feet. She hesitated just a bit, and then decided to walk over to her bedroom window slowly. She slowly looked out of the window, attempting to see if she could find anything outside that might be causing the howls. She wasn't able to see anything, but through enough listening, she was able to tell that the howls almost seemed like they were coming from the Threshold Forest. "…_I guess that makes sense… I've always heard that all kinds of creatures live there… But… What kind of howls are those…? Those just don't sound natural…_" She thought to herself, shuddering one more. She stood at the window for quite some time, listening to the howls, until they slowly began to die down after a period of time. Electra continued standing up for quite some time, until she was sure that the howls weren't going to start again anytime soon. "…Did they stop?"

Electra waited for quite some time, but she still didn't hear the howls starting up again, so she decided to just get back in bed. As she lay there under the covers, she couldn't help but wonder what caused those howls that she had heard so many nights before. Was there some kind of creature loose in the forest? Or was it something much more than that?


End file.
